Horse race journalism

Horse race journalism is political journalism during elections that resembles horse race coverage due to its focus on polling data and public perception instead of candidate policy. The reporting almost exclusively reports the differences rather than similarities between the candidates. "For journalists, the horse-race metaphor provides a framework for analysis. A horse is judged not by its own absolute speed or skill, but rather by its comparison to the speed of other horses, and especially by its wins and losses." Horse race journalism dominates media coverage during elections in the United States.

A 2018 meta-analysis found that horse-race coverage reduces citizens' substantive knowledge of politics (such as policies or candidates' issue positions) and fosters political cynicism and alienation. More recent versions of horserace coverage that produce forecasts has been shown to reduce voting in multiple studies.

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